Arne Slot challenges Liverpool players to be ready for packed schedule

Arne Slot says he is ready to embrace the chaos of a packed Liverpool schedule as he prepares his team for seven matches in 22 days.

Liverpool begin the weekend second after a perfect start to Slot’s tenure, winning three matches without conceding. Slot will be without Harvey Elliott, who sustained a fractured foot on international duty, for Saturday’s visit of Nottingham Forest, who are unbeaten in the Premier League having won once and drawn twice.

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“It is what it is and that is why, if we are fortunate to work at big clubs like I do, that we also have a lot of good players,” Slot said. “And that’s also one of the reasons why we have so many players. If we only played 15 games then we wouldn’t need as many players as we have now.

“For the players it might be a lot. If it is too much then it is a question for them to ask because I don’t feel what they feel but I do see it is a lot and it is up to us to prove we can handle that: the ones who play almost every game and the ones to come in and show they can continue to get results like we have so far.”

Liverpool play at Milan on Tuesday in the first of eight guaranteed Champions League matches. Slot oversaw 47 games at Feyenoord last season, whereas Liverpool faced 58 fixtures, a figure they will hope to match even though it would test the squad’s depth and fitness.

“The toughest part of the season comes after November where we play to March and we don’t have the break that all the other countries do have,” Slot said. “So in this period of time I wouldn’t say it is hard for me. It is much harder for the players that went to their national teams. I am fully energised playing padel ball every day.”

Elliott was injured with the England Under-21s but Slot is boosted by the return of Curtis Jones, and the new signing Federico Chiesa could make his debut. The head coach said of Elliott: “It’s first and foremost a blow for himself but also for us; availability is important in the stage of the season when we play seven games in 22 day.”